Posts Tagged ‘Live Poker’
Final Table Poker Strategy: The #1 Biggest Mistake to Avoid
With steep pay jumps and top-heavy payout structures, the final table of any poker tournament is where big money is earned or burned. In this article, we’ll look closely at the biggest mistake made at final tables: overly tight/passive play. Along the way, we’ll have real-world examples to discuss from live tournaments, along with key…
Read MoreHow to Squeeze Max Value from Juicy Live Tournaments
Live poker tournaments have much softer fields than online tournaments. The Big $109 on PokerStars, for example, is a tougher tournament than many WSOP $1,500 events. This difference in player quality presents many factors that aren’t present online. In order to maximize our winnings in live tournaments, we must understand and adjust for these factors.…
Read MoreFloating Strategy | The Complete Guide
What is floating? Floating is a must-have weapon for every aspiring poker crusher. It’s an advanced play, however, which entails calling with a weak hand on the flop in order to win the pot on a later street by either showing down or bluffing an opponent. The main reason floating is such an effective weapon…
Read More4 Insights from 11 Years, 70,567 MTTs, and 6,304,190 Hands of Poker
I’ve written poker strategy at Upswing for the past year and a half. During this time I’ve mostly covered specific topics – like bounty MTTs, blind defense, and staking. I strongly believe that working on just one area of your game at a time is the best way to improve, but as someone who’s mentored and…
Read MoreHow to Destroy Your Opponent After Seeing One Showdown
Sometimes it takes just one showdown for a great poker player to change their game plan and start crushing opponents. In this article I will teach you how to start thinking like a truly great player when it comes to making these immediate adjustments. You will first be presented with four hand examples that reach…
Read More4 Cash Game Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
Today we’re going to discuss some of the most common mistakes cash game players make, both novice and experienced alike, and what you can do to avoid them. The 4 mistakes in this article are mostly general in focus, which means they’ll improve your playstyle overall rather than just in specific situations. This article is…
Read More4 Mistakes to Avoid for More Profitable Postflop Decisions
Top poker players are adept at putting their opponents on a range of hands. This battle-hardened skill in turn leads to more profitable decision making. By contrast, players who are unable to properly range their opponents are often forced to […]
Read MoreHow to Play Small Pocket Pairs in Tournaments
The disguised nature of a flopped set makes small pocket pairs very profitable. However, although they are profitable for most players, some tend to play them wrong in certain situations. A common mistake, for instance […]
Read More4 Ways to Improve Your Results in Multi-Way Pots
Multi-way pots can cause headaches, and it’s easy to understand why. More players means more variables, and potential for the pot to swell quickly. But if you want to crush live games or low stakes games online–where loose and passive preflop play is common–you’ll need a sound approach for multi-way pots. Today we’ll discuss 4…
Read MorePreflop Strategy Quiz: Only a Feared Grinder Will Get 9/10
Are you ready to challenge your preflop skills? Because these 10 questions aren’t meant to be easy! Be sure you share your score at the end. Good luck! Can You Get 9/10 on this Preflop Poker Quiz? […]
Read More4 Do-or-Die Tournament Situations Explained
The situations heavily impacted by Independent Chip Model (ICM) are truly where money is won and lost in tournament poker. You can crush an entire tournament and then make an ICM-punt at the final table that costs you all the expected value you grinded to build. Today we’ll discuss 4 of the most important situations…
Read More3 Tips to Help You Maximize Your Winnings with Overpairs
How do you play overpairs after the flop? “Play ‘em fast,” someone told me years ago. “If you don’t, you’ll miss out on value.” Despite its simplicity, this is generally good advice. The idea, of course, is to get maximum value from what’s presumably the best hand. But nothing is simple in poker. In this…
Read More4 GTO Myths That Way Too Many Poker Players Believe
GTO? More like GT-NO! Today we’ll be debunking 4 big myths about game theory optimal poker strategy, or “GTO,” as it’s now commonly called. With insights from Ryan Fee and acclaimed poker writer Matthew Janda (from their new GTO module in the Upswing Lab), we’re determined to clear up these misconceptions once and for all.…
Read MoreOpen-Raising with a Short Stack in Tournaments Explained
Most players leak chips with a short stack in tournaments, despite how important short stack play is. To become an elite tournament player, you must aim for perfection with your short stack game. This starts with learning the preflop fundamentals. Today, I’m going to get you started with how to properly adjust your open-raise range as…
Read MoreBluffing in Poker Explained (by Doug Polk)
Is there anything more satisfying than a successful bluff? Bluffing is life in poker, but not all players feel the same about it. Some players think very conservatively about bluffing. From their point of view, opponents who bluff are taking unnecessary risks. While it’s true that some players bluff too much, there are also many…
Read MoreHow To Range Your Poker Opponents With Accuracy
At the core of poker strategy is the concept of ranges. Instead of trying to put your opponent on a specific hand, it helps to assign them—and yourself—a range of possible poker hands after each action. Why do this? Well, as fun as “hand reading” and making a sick soul read can be, putting your…
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